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<br />Summary <br />The information contained in this report and the associated instream flow file folder forms the <br />basis for staffs instream flow recommendation to be considered by the Board. It is staffs <br />opinion that the information contained in this report is sufficient to support the findings required <br />in Rule 5.40. <br /> <br />Colorado's Instream Flow Program was created in 1973 when the Colorado State Legislature <br />recognized "the need to correlate the activities of mankind with some reasonable preservation of <br />the natural environment" (see 37-92-102 (3) C.R.S.). The statute vests the CWCB with the <br />exclusive authority to appropriate and acquire instream flow and natural lake level water rights. <br />In order to encourage other entities to participate in Colorado's Instream Flow Program, the <br />statute directs the CWCB to request instream flow recommendations from other state and federal <br />agencies. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recommended this segment of Ford Creek to <br />the CWCB for inclusion into the Instream Flow Program. Ford Creek is being considered for <br />inclusion into the Instream Flow Program because it has a natural environment that can be <br />preserved to a reasonable degree with an instream flow water right. The BLM is very interested <br />in protecting stream flows because Ford Creek is one of very few streams managed by BLM in <br />the Saguache Creek watershed that has flows capable of supporting a salmonid fishery. <br /> <br />Ford Creek is a tributary of Saguache Creek and is approximately 8.0 miles long. It begins on <br />the northern flank of Bonita Hill at an elevation of approximately 9,500 feet and terminates at the <br />confluence with Saguache Creek at an elevation of approximately 8,150 feet. Of the 2.1 mile <br />segment addressed by this report, approximately 100% of the segment, or 2.1 miles, is located on <br />federal lands. The creek is located within Saguache County. The total drainage area of the creek <br />is approximately 25.5 square miles. Ford Creek generally flows in a southwesterly direction. <br /> <br />The subject of this report is a segment of Ford Creek beginning at an unnamed tributary and <br />extending downstream to the BLM Boundary. This segment is located west of the town of <br />Saguache. The staff has received only one recommendation for this segment, from the Bureau of <br />Land Management. The recommendation for this segment is discussed below. <br /> <br />Instream Flow Recommendation(s) <br /> <br />BLM recommended 0.7 cfs (January I to December 31) based on its July 15,1996, and May 30, <br />2002, data collection efforts (see Appendix A). The modeling results from this survey effort are <br />within the confidence interval produced by the R2Cross model. <br /> <br />land Status Review <br /> <br />Upper Terminus <br />Unnamed Tributary <br /> <br />Total Length <br />Lower Terminus (miles) <br />BLM Boundary 2.1 <br /> <br />Land Ownership <br />% Private % Public <br />o % 100 % <br /> <br />Approximately 100% of the reach is located on federal lands managed by the BLM. <br /> <br />- 2 - <br />